India peg England back to take stranglehold of series

England 400; India 146-1 at stumps on day two

Given that they have to win this Test to have a chance of levelling the series, this was a grim day for England’s tourists. They did not play too badly: Jos Buttler shepherded the tail impressively when they batted, then the bowlers and fielders, gathering the red dust of Mumbai on their whites all the while, toiled honestly enough when in the field.

But the figures make gloomy reading for a side that have to win. Four hundred is not a bad score but at the close of the second day India had batted for 52 overs and they have 146 runs on the board with just a solitary wicket down. Virat Kohli has yet to be enticed to the crease.

England’s ambitions were thwarted by Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who was nicknamed “Steve” during his brief residence in the Yorkshire dressing room for no obvious reason. By the close Vijay was unbeaten on 70; Pujara had 47 and the home side were looking secure.

Vijay is an unusual opening batsman in that he has demonstrated a weakness against the short ball in this series as well as an aptitude for hitting sixes off spinners. The pacemen duly tested him early on but the bounce is true and predictable here and there were no alarms.

He looked briefly vulnerable against the spinners. Twice he opted for a lofted drive against Adil Rashid and on both occasions the ball just cleared retreating fieldsmen, at mid-off and mid-on – no wonder current spinners counter claims of how the DRS has helped them with complaints about the makeup of the modern bat. But later there would be two emphatic sixes from Vijay, against Moeen Ali and Rashid; that whiff of desperation had vanished.

Pujara, who came to the crease after a perfect Moeen off-break had penetrated the gate of KL Rahul, was composed and confident from his first ball. Like Vijay he is more comfortable against spinners, his footwork precise and his intent positive. This gentle tormentor of English bowlers barely missed a ball. Here was confirmation of the simplest bowling philosophy of a coach well-versed in the IPL as well as Tests in India: “In the IPL bowl the fast bowlers against the Indians and the spinners against all the overseas players and you won’t go far wrong.”

So it was no great surprise that England’s batsmen should be confronted by two spinners when the tourists resumed their innings on 288 for five on Friday morning. In fact they battled well after the early, disconcerting departure of Ben Stokes. India sought a review for a caught behind off Ravi Ashwin after Stokes had been given not out by umpire Oxenford.

The emergency TV umpire, Chettithody Shamshuddin, still in place since Paul Reiffel will not be taking any further part in this match after his blow to the head on the first day, was faced with a tricky decision. Stokes’s bat had clearly hit the ground but the umpire was probably right to conclude that the ball had simultaneously taken the edge of the bat as well. Stokes’s reaction suggested that he took an alternative view but dismissed batsmen are seldom renowned for their objectivity.

From here England might have folded against the spinners, who continued with the old ball for most of the morning, but Buttler, demonstrating the folly of those who doggedly stuck to the traditional conclusion that he should not be selected for a Test match because he has played so little red-ball cricket in recent times, orchestrated an important rearguard action.

Buttler’s chief ally came from an unlikely quarter. Neither Chris Woakes nor Rashid, both of whom were dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, could keep Buttler company for long, but Jake Ball offered spirited assistance once he had survived a sharp chance to Virat Kohli in the gully before he had scored. They added 54 together and Ball was no sleeping partner, with some healthy blows against the spinners and the odd impressive drive against the new ball, which was eventually taken just before lunch.

Buttler’s innings of 76 was measured throughout; he only began to expand his repertoire when he was running out of partners. Then he unveiled a few trademark reverse sweeps and a mighty drive against Ashwin, which demanded the provision of another ball.

The puzzle remains of how best to use Buttler in Test cricket. What has become even more obvious after the past two matches is that he should most definitely be considered for a place in any part of the globe, albeit not a guaranteed one as England belatedly gain a clearer idea of what constitutes their best lineup of batsmen. And it would be handy if he played a few more first-class matches as well.

For India the wickets were shared between Ashwin (six for 112) and Jadeja (four for 109). This is the first time all of England’s wickets have fallen to spinners in India since February 1977. That also happened on the red soil of Mumbai, which has a habit of tormenting pace bowlers. Ashwin and Jadeja currently have 35 wickets between them in this series, as opposed to the 26 of Rashid and Moeen. Of greater disparity and, perhaps, of some relevance is the maiden count which is 83-31 in favour of the two Indians.

(Guardian service)